The bacteria's adaptive immune system is what we never thought they had. We thought everything was sort of like our first line of defense area, innate immune system. It would just attack it and kill it the same way but not the case. So now we've got Cas1, Cas2, chops the viral DNA,. steals this fragment of DNA, which we now call a spacer. When it chops it in the viral DNA, it's called a protospacer. But then once it takes it and incorporates it into the bacterial genome, it’s called a spaster. And how does it know where to put it in its own genome? Those PAM regions. Right?
In this episode, Dr Matt and Dr Mike discuss how humans realised that bacteria could fight off viruses using sequences in their DNA called, CRISPR. Today, CRISPR technology is being used to cure cancer and investigate the cause of genetic disease.
For a video of Dr Mike teaching about CRISPR, click HERE!
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